In the eighties, I would watch this as much as possible. It was a good Twilight Zone type show that had some hits and misses but even when it missed it could be creepy. The show combined horror, science fiction, and comedy. The series was made in the 1980s and boy can you tell! The music, the sets, and the hair.
Each episode of this TV series depicts a short, strange tale…with a twist! With eerie stories that were most of the time smartly written. The usual plot formula is comprised of an initial normal, mundane situation that gradually begins to get off-kilter, with suspense building up to the final, chilling, surprise conclusion.
Some episodes are gruesome, a few are of a lighter comedic style. Like many such shows, they were adapted from the work of famous genre authors of the period such as Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, and Clive Barker. Many episodes also featured veteran actors of the 40’s and 50’s.
The show ran from 1983 to 1988 and had a total of 90 episodes.
So…listen very carefully… get some popcorn, put some 80’s acid-washed jeans on, and binge watch this show at night time to make the atmosphere a little creepier.
Cool hideout, Cool theme, Cool uniforms, Hot Batgirl and the Coolest car. The Batman TV series ran from 1966-1968 with 120 episodes. This was a fun campy show…not a dark drama searching for the reasons why Batman is a vigilante.
I was in the generation after this aired but I loved watching the reruns. Back in the mid-seventies, I was 8 and under the impression that Batman, Gilligans Island, and The Monkees were still making these fun shows. Batman was so colorful and expressive with it’s POW, BOOM, ZAP comic book play. The campiness played great in this show.
Adam West played the campy Batman perfectly and his ward…Burt Ward was just as good with his part. One of the great things about Batman was the villains. Cesar Romero did a great Joker. He may be my favorite Joker. Burgess Meredith as the Penguin and Frank Gorshin as the Riddler was also perfectly cast. I always liked Catwoman played by Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt. Last but certainly not least Bat Girl played by Yvonne Craig.
Lee Meriwether acted as Catwoman in the movie. Yes, there was a movie that they made in 1966! Like the series, it’s just as fun! It has the infamous bat-shark repellent in the movie.
The Batmobile! I loved that car. It started life as a 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car. George Barris did his magic and turned it into what we now know as the Batmobile. My personal favorite of all the Batman cars.
I want to thank blainerestaurantreport for suggesting Batman to write about… He also told me that Burt Ward got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame…naturally beside Adam West. Congrats Burt!
This anthology supernatural series ran from 1972-1973. Like most of these types of series, it flowed from the original Twilight Zone. It wasn’t as smart (hardly anything is) but it was entertaining. It involved satanic cults, ghosts, killer dogs, twin turmoil, and so much more. And while some of the stories come off as simplistic (most really don’t have a twist), they all have something to offer… an intriguing plot or an interesting performance. It’s as I said, a solid batch of stories.
It was originally called “Ghost Story” and Winston Essex (Sebastian Cabot) opened each episode by taking the audience into his spooky old mansion and introducing the plot, which could range from a vampire preying on college students to a ghost haunting a house to an old man using voodoo against his own family. On January 5, 1973, the series changed its title to “Circle of Fear“, the Essex character was no longer part of the show, and the stories didn’t always feature supernatural themes.
It’s been sadly forgotten…if you like the supernatural it’s worth a watch.
This curiosity was born in the seventies. It was when TV stars were connected with their home network. ABC, CBS, and NBC would all send stars to compete with each other. I will admit it was fun to watch. You would see Telly Savalas, Lynda Carter, Kristy McNichol (remember her?) compete with each other with no other than Howard Cossell announcing.
Regular events included swimming, kayaking, volleyball, golf, tennis, bowling (on custom-made outdoor lanes), cycling, 3-on-3 football, the baseball dunk, running, and the obstacle course. As a pre-teen boy, I still remember Kristy McNichol was great on the obstacle course.
TV now is so fragmented that it would not work. They did try to bring it back in 2017 but it wasn’t the same and fewer viewers viewed with every episode. The networks didn’t want to share their actors with rivals. All of the contestants were from the Disney owned networks or older casts from long ago shows.
The original show ran from 1976 to 1988… Some of the Contestants are below the video.
Some of the Contestants
Howard Cosell
Gabe Kaplan
Darleen Carr
Lynda Carter
Farrah Fawcett
Richard Hatch
Robert Hegyes
Ron Howard
Hal Linden
Penny Marshall
John Schuck
Telly Savalas
Adrienne Barbeau
Gary Burghoff
Kevin Dobson
Pat Harrington Jr.
Bill Macy
Lee Meriwether
Mackenzie Phillips
Loretta Swit
Jimmie Walker
Robert Conrad
Melissa Sue Anderson
Karen Grassle
Tim Matheson
Ben Murphy
Barbara Parkins
Joanna Pettet
Kevin Tighe
Demond Wilson
Mark Spitz
Peter Lawford
Lona Barrett
Caitlyn Jenner
Bob Rosburg
Reggie Jackson
Nadia Comaneci
Joyce Brothers
Robert Stack
Roosevelt Grier
Howard W. Koch
The cartoon was released in 1966 and has been shown every year since. This one along with Rudolph, Charlie Brown, and a few more were a part of Christmas. These specials would prime you for the big day.
One cool thing about the cartoon was that Boris Karloff was the narrator. Thurl Ravenscroft (voice of Tony the Tiger) sang the great song “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch. ”
The citizens of Whoville looked and acted like the others of Dr. Suess’s universe. They were all getting ready for Christmas while a certain someone…or thing looked down from Mt. Crumpit. The Grinch has hated Christmas for years and sees the Whovillians getting ready for Christmas and is determined once and for all to put an end to it.
He dresses up as Santa Clause and makes his poor dog Max act as a reindeer to swoop down and steal Christmas. The Grinch sleds down the hill almost killing Max and they soon reach Whoville. He is busted by one kid…Cindy Lou Who, who asks him questions as the Grinch took her family tree. He lies to her and sends her to bed.
In the morning after he has everything including “The Roast Beast,” he listens for the sorrow to begin.
You need to watch the rest or rewatch…
A live-action remake came out in 2000 but I still like this one the best. You cannot replicate Boris Karloff.
The Budget – Coming in at over $300,000, or $2.2 million in today’s dollars, the special’s budget was unheard of at the time for a 26-minute cartoon adaptation. For comparison’s sake, A Charlie Brown Christmas’s budget was reported as $96,000, or roughly $722,000 today (and this was after production had gone $20,000 over the original budget).
You’re a mean one Mr. Grinch The famous voice actor and singer, best known for providing the voice of Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger, wasn’t recognized for his work in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Because of this, most viewers wrongly assumed that the narrator of the special, Boris Karloff, also sang the piece in question. Upset by this oversight, Geisel personally apologized to Ravenscroft and vowed to make amends. Geisel went on to pen a letter, urging all the major columnists that he knew to help him rectify the mistake by issuing a notice of correction in their publications.
Mr Grinch
You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch You really are a heel You’re as cuddly as a cactus You’re as charming as an eel Mr. Grinch You’re a bad banana with a greasy black peel You’re a monster, Mr. Grinch Your heart’s an empty hole Your brain is full of spiders You’ve got garlic in your soul, Mr Grinch I wouldn’t touch you with a Thirty-nine and a half foot pole
You’re a vile one, Mr. Grinch You have termites in your smile You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile Mr Grinch Given the choice between the two of you I’d take the seasick crocodile
You’re a foul one, Mr. Grinch You’re a nasty wasty skunk Your heart is full of unwashed socks Your soul is full of gunk Mr Grinch
The three best words that best describe you Are as follows, and I quote” Stink Stank Stunk
You’re a rotter Mr Grinch You’re the king of sinful sots Your heart’s a dead tomato splotched with moldy purple spots Mr Grinch
Your soul is an appalling dump heap Overflowing with the most disgraceful Assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable Mangled up in tangled up knots
You nauseate me, Mr Grinch With a nauseous super nos You’re a crooked jerky jockey and You drive a crooked horse Mr Grinch
You’re a three-decker sauerkraut And toadstool sandwich With arsenic sauce
I always have wondered where certain pop culture items have gone. Where is the “M” hanging on the wall in Mary Tyler Moore Show (she actually kept that), Fonzie’s leather jacket (Smithsonian), the original model of the Starship Enterprise (Again Smithsonian), the… well you get the point.
I like collecting seventies items. The Partridge Family bus would be one of the ultimate things to collect. It would be nice to find it somewhere on an old farm…but it is most likely lost to time. There are two known explanations for what happened to it.
One story is… it was last seen behind “Lucy’s Tacos” in LA in 1987. It supposedly was in the back parking lot. Then it was towed away to a junkyard into history.
But… I still have hope! Some have said the bus at Lucy’s Taco was a replica of the original because the make and model of the bus didn’t jive with the one on the show. There was only one bus…they changed the interior a bit during the later seasons but just one bus was used.
Others say it was painted white and used in a short-lived tv series called Apple’s Way in 1974. Most likely it’s gone to pop culture heaven…You never know though…somewhere it could still be out there.
What would I do with it? Tour America in the bus picking up fellow bloggers on the way? Dig up Tiger Beat magazines and look for Susan Dey? I have no clue…The closest I’ll ever get to it is this.
I know what I was doing on November 30, 1977. I was watching Merrie Olde Christmas special as a kid. I didn’t appreciate the weirdness of the combination of Bing Crosby and David Bowie at the time. Something that the seventies did well and sometimes bad…was to intersect generations on variety shows. This one was a good combination.
This special had guest stars Twiggy, David Bowie, Ron Moody, Stanley Baxter, and The Trinity Boys Choir. It was the duet with Bing Crosby and David Bowie that has been remembered. I remember watching this knowing that Bing Crosby had died the month earlier. The duet was taped on September 11, 1977, and Crosby died on October 14, 1977.
David Bowie’s mother was a huge Bing Crosby fan and Bing Crosby’s children were big David Bowie fans…so the two agreed to sing together. It was questionable at first if it would work out.
Mary Crosby: “The doors opened and David walked in with his wife,” she recalled. “They were both wearing full-length mink coats, they have matching full makeup and their hair was bright red. We were thinking, ‘Oh my god.'” Nathaniel Crosby, Bing’s son, added: “It almost didn’t happen. I think the producers told him to take the lipstick off and take the earring out. It was just incredible to see the contrast.”
Another possible hitch happened with Bowie. He didn’t like The Little Drummer Boy and refused to sing it. The writers then wrote a revised version of the song that he liked. They wrote a counterpart section for Bowie to sing. Crosby liked the challenge of his part. The rest is history and one of the most unusual pairings you will ever see…
One funny part is Bowie’s idea of “older fellas” at the time is John Lennon and Harry Nilsson.
The Little Drummer Boy (Peace On Earth)
Come they told me pa-rum-pum-pum-pum A newborn king to see pa-rum-pum-pum-pum Our finest gifts we bring pa-rum-pum-pum-pum Rum-pum-pum-pum, rum-pum-pum-pum
[Verse 2: Bowie and Crosby] Peace on Earth can it be? Come they told me pa-rum-pum-pum-pum Years from now, perhaps we’ll see? A newborn king to see pa-rum-pum-pum-pum See the day of glory Our finest gift we bring pa-rum-pum-pum-pum See the day, when men of good will To lay before the king pa-rum-pum-pum-pum Live in peace, live in peace again Rum-pum-pum-pum, Rum-pum-pum-pum Peace on Earth So to honour him pa-rum-pum-pum-pum Can it be When we come
[Bridge: Bowie and Crosby in unison] Every child must be made aware Every child must be made to care Care enough for his fellow man To give all the love that he can
[Verse 4: Bowie and Crosby] I pray my wish will come true Little baby pa-rum-pum-pum-pum For my child and your child too I stood beside him there pa-rum-pum-pum-pum He’ll see the day of glory I played my drum for him pa-rum-pum-pum-pum See the day when men of good will I played my best for him pa-rum-pum-pum-pum Live in peace, live in peace again Rum-pum-pum-pum, rum-pum-pum-pum Peace on Earth Me and my drum Can it be
Two FBI agents assigned to investigate cases for which there may be only paranormal explanations. Hailed by critics, the show was one of the network’s top-rated shows.
The show was heavily influenced by Kolchak, Twilight Zone, and Twin Peaks.
The X-Files was a show I didn’t miss in the 1990s. It was a superbly written science fiction show along with likable characters…Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. The series combined drama, science fiction, comedy, and an ongoing storyline. You could say the X-Files help define the 90s.
This episode won two Emmy Awards: Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Peter Boyle), and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
The X-Files – Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose
The Characters: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Clyde Bruckman, The Puppet (as Stu Charno), Detective Cline, Detective Havez, Tarot Dealer, Madame Zelmas, Clerk
The Stupendous Yappi, Young Husband, and Photographer
The writers got the name “Clyde Bruckman” from a comedy writer that wrote for Buster Keaton in the 20s. He later fell on hard times and committed suicide in 1955.
Scully and Mulder are called into the investigation of a series of murders where the victims were all psychics of some sort. A tea leaf reader, tarot card reader and palm reader are all the apparent victims of a serial killer. The local police have brought in a well-known TV psychic that Mulder finds laughable. He does come across Clyde Bruckman, an insurance salesman who may be a genuine psychic. While Scully is appropriately skeptical, Mulder realizes that Bruckman can only see one thing – how people will die.
Clyde Bruckman is a grumpy old man with psychic powers that show him how someone will die assists the agents with the hunt for a crazed killer who targets psychics. He also cryptically reveals to Mulder and Scully their own ultimate fates
Watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer every year is the same as setting up the tree. Every year I would look forward to seeing this along with the others but what a fantastic durable show this has been. When I hear Burl Ives in anything…I think of him as the narrator Sam the Snowman of this program.
The characters are wonderful. Well except those other young reindeer who really come down on Rudolph when his nose lights up.
Hermey the elf who wants to be a dentist Clarice – The reindeer who likes Rudolph just as he is red nose and all. Yukon Cornelius the prospector who loves silver and gold and has a tongue that can find his silver and gold. Abominable Snowman – The bad guy of the show who only needs a dentist to make him a good guy. Head Elf – He leans on Hermey to get his elf self-act together and discourages him from being a dentist…I never liked him too much.
Throughout the special, Yukon Cornelius is seen throwing his pickaxe into the ground, taking it out and licking it. It turns out that he is checking for neither gold nor silver; Yukon was actually searching for an elusive peppermint mine. In a scene right at the end of the special’s original broadcast, deleted the next year to make room for the Misfit Toys’ new scene, Cornelius pulled his pick from the ground, licked it and said, “Peppermint! What I’ve been searching for all my life! I’ve struck it rich! I’ve got me a peppermint mine! Wahoo!” The scene was restored in 1998 and has been reinstated in all the subsequent home video release except for the 2004 DVD release. However, this scene is still cut from recent televised airings.
The Island of Misplaced Toys got to me when I was a kid. I really felt sorry for these lonely toys. King Moonracer was over the island and tried to convinced Rudolph to tell Santa about them so he could pick them up and find kids who would play with them.
The original 1964 airing did not include the closing scene where Santa picks up the misfit toys. That scene was added in 1965, in response to complaints that Santa was not shown fulfilling his promise to include them in his annual delivery.
The stop animation in this works really well.
The songs are really good. Silver and Gold, Holly Jolly Christmas, Jingle Jingle Jingle, We Are Santa’s Elves, There’s Always Tomorrow, We’re a Couple of Misfits and The Most Wonderful Day of the Year.
The Peanuts were my favorite cartoon growing up and I would never miss their Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Christmas specials. Everyone can relate to Charlie Brown because we lose more than we win in life. He doesn’t get to kick that football, his dog has more things than he does and he is forever trying to get the elusive little redhead girl to notice him.
The Peanuts inhabit a kid’s world where grownups are felt but not heard. At least not in English.
This 1965 special has everything good about them in one show.
The gang is skating and Charlie Brown is telling Linus that despite Christmas being a happy time he is depressed. Linus tells Charlie that is normal and Lucy pipes in with “Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you’re the Charlie Browniest.” That sums it all up.
Charlie gets to direct the Christmas play and his main job was to get a spectacular Christmas tree under Lucy’s orders. …He picks the only real tree there…more like a branch but he is sure it will do the job. Most of the gang do not agree when he comes back with the tree but Charlie persists. Linus gets up and reads from the Bible and the inflection he lends to the reading is great.
After that, you will need to watch because it will be worth it.
Aluminum Christmas trees were marketed beginning in 1958 and enjoyed fairly strong sales by eliminating pesky needles and tree sap. But the annual airings of A Charlie Brown Christmas swayed public thinking: In the special, Charlie Brown refuses to get a fake tree. Viewers began to do the same, and the product was virtually phased out by 1969. The leftovers are now collector’s items.
Actors and Actresses The early Peanuts specials made use of both untrained kids and professional actors: Peter Robbins (Charlie Brown) and Christopher Shea (Linus) were working child performers, while the rest of the cast consisted of “regular” kids coached by Melendez in the studio. When Schulz told Melendez that Snoopy couldn’t have any lines in the show—he’s a dog, and Schulz’s dogs didn’t talk—the animator decided to bark and chuff into a microphone himself, then speed up the recording to give it a more emotive quality.
I discovered Star Trek in the 1980s. It was one of those marathons that some station ran at the time. What impressed me was those wonderful stories. Some people gripe about the special effects…to me they were fine. They got the point across and that is what counts. William Shatner’s acting is a little different but hey…he is Captain Kirk. Leonard Nimoy was brilliant as the Vulcan Spock.
There are too many good episodes to pick from… the show only had one bad episode that I will not watch again…and that one is Spock’s Brain…Leonard Nimoy didn’t like that one either.
This episode has the beautiful Joan Collins and features time travel which is always a plus.
Capt. Kirk: You were actually enjoying my predicament back there. At times, you seem quite human.
Spock: Captain, I hardly believe that insults are within your prerogative as my commanding officer.
Notice the picture below…the Andy Griffith set was used…you see “Floyds Barber Shop”
Star Trek: The City On The Edge Of Tomorrow
The characters: Spock, Captain Kirk, Edith Keeler, Dr. McCoy, Scottie, Sulu, Uhura, Rodent, Galloway, and The Guardian.
When an accident causes Dr. McCoy to go temporarily insane, he escapes to a strange planet. There, the search party discovers a device left by a superior, vanished civilization, a time portal that plays the history of Earth for them – but then Bones jumps through it into the past, causing a change in history important enough to make the Enterprise vanish. Kirk and Spock, who fortunately made a tricorder recording, must attempt to go through to just before McCoy’s arrival and stop him from changing history in the United States during the Great Depression, where they have no advanced technology available
I watched this show on PBS when I was young but I started to watch it again during the 2000s and I haven’t stopped. I always loved this British sitcom. It wasn’t as clever as Fawlty Towers but not much is equal to that show. This show featured a very snobby class system with some silly gags but with no apologies. You could count on Mrs Slocombe’s “cat” being mentioned and would always hear…”Don’t worry…They’ll ride up with wear.” and Mr. Humphries declaring “I’m Free.” This show is the closest thing you will get to a time machine straight to the seventies.
Captain Stephen Peacock: Oh, yes, it brought back memories of the army. The lads, the heat, the sunset and the endless shifting sands.
Mr. Lucas: How long were you at Bognor Regis, Captain Peacock?
Captain Stephen Peacock: Mr. Lucas, when you were at school, I was with some of the toughest soldiers in the world, chasing Rommel through the desert.
Mr. Humphries: Some people have all the luck.
Are You Being Served: Camping In
The Characters: Mr. Lucas, Mrs. Slocombe, Captain Peacock, Mr. Humphries, Miss Brahms, Mr. Grainger, Mr. Rumbold, Mr. Mash, The Scottish Customer, The 38C Cup, The Large Brim with Fruit, The Secretary, The Man with the Large Bra, and The Leatherette Gloves
Due to a transport strike, the staff is forced to stay in the store overnight. Mr. Rumbold makes them sleep in tents—much to their displeasure. What at first seems to be a nightmare soon proves to be a chance for everyone to share in each other’s companionship.
This episode was different from any comedies at the time and would influence others. Mclean Stevenson left the show (which he would later regret) after three seasons and the show killed his character off. When Radar walked in the operating room and told everyone what happened to Henry it was a memorable tv moment.
Sitcoms just didn’t kill characters off and Mash would start mixing comedy and drama more after this.
If it’s about my discharge, give it to me straight! I can take it!
You behave yourself, or I’m gonna come back here and kick your butt!
M*A*S*H: Abyssinia, Henry
The Characters: Capt. Benjamin Franklin ‘Hawkeye’ Pierce, Capt. ‘Trapper John’ McIntyre, Lt. Col. Henry Blake, Maj. Margaret ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan, Maj. Frank Burns, Cpl. Walter ‘Radar’ O’Reilly, Cpl. Maxwell Q. Klinger and Father Francis Mulcahy
Radar has an announcement for Henry in O.R. Henry Blake has received his discharge: he is finally going home to Bloomington, Illinois, to his wife, Lorraine, and their children, the country club and his medical practice. The entire 4077 gang is thrilled for Henry and they wish him well; gifts are gotten, parties are thrown and all sorts of final memories are made. But, the entire gang is sad to be losing such an integral part of the 4077 gang. Radar, in particular, is losing the man who was a father to him. The final farewell formation is memorable; even Hawkeye and Trapper show up to tell their friend and leader a fond farewell. Some farewells are fonder than others. Klinger dresses to kill. As Henry starts to leave, Radar steadfastly holds his salute to his departing C.O. until Henry finally acknowledges him.
This Emmy-nominated episode has acquired a reputation as the best of all Martin’s hosting gigs. Its not my favorite episode…I do like it though… but it’s probably one of the most important in the show’s history. It was a turning point for SNL. It went from a cult hit to a major player in the ratings during this period. Many people have picked it as the best episode.
Saturday Night Live has always been hit or miss in any era. The difference in the 70s is they would take more chances and Lorne made sure everyone had a chance in the cast.
The show introduced a lot of comedians and some unknown musical artists like Redbone and others that would not have gotten coverage on a network show.
Saturday Night Live: Steve Martin/Blues Brothers
The Cast: Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Bill Murray, Laraine Newman, Gilda Radner, The Blues Brothers, and Don Pardo
The host for the episode is Steve Martin (his fifth appearance), and the musical guest is The Blues Brothers (their second appearance). The skits for this episode are as follows: Concert promoter Don Kirschner presents footage of an old club performance by The Blues Brothers. For his opening monologue, Steve Martin talks about the inspiration for his comedy ideas, then does a magic act that ends with him tackling and beating a member of the audience.
The Festrunk brothers prepare their apartment for the two girls they believe are on the way, but their neighbor Cliff tells them they’ve been stood up. Medieval doctor Theodoric of York treats a series of patients by draining their blood. A man and woman catch each other’s notice in a crowded club, and dance together romantically as the rest of the club freezes in place around them. During the Weekend Update, Jane Curtain and Dan Aykroyd debate abortion, Jane reports on Carter’s energy policy and a new nasal contraceptive, and Dan berates Garrett Morris for short-changing him on the weed he bought. Steve performs a song about King Tut. The Nerds Todd and Lisa prepare their science fair projects. The Blues Brothers perform “I Don’t Know”.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. This first premiered on November 20, 1973, on CBS and won an Emmy Award. Great Thanksgiving special as always with the earlier Peanuts.
The Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Peanuts specials I always looked forward to. The way their world was only for kids where grownups were heard but only as noise in the background.
It starts off with Lucy tempting Charlie Brown with that football. Just one time I wanted to see Charlie kick the football…or Lucy.
It’s Thanksgiving and Peppermint Patty invites herself and Marcie over to Charlie Brown’s house but Charlie and Sally are ready to go to their grandmothers. Charlie talks to Linus and he suggests having two Thanksgiving dinners.
The only thing Charlie can come up with is feeding his friends toast and cold cereal which does not make Peppermint Patty happy whatsoever. She lets Charlie have it really bad until Marcie reminds her that she invited herself over.
Not going to give it away for those who have not seen this wonderful holiday cartoon. The music by Vince Guaraldi is excellent and makes every Peanuts cartoon special.
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 